Farmers markets in central Ohio are opening for the season, but some tables might be a little sparse for a few weeks. A cold spring, excessive rain and May frost have posed challenges for area farmers, who typically have early crops ready for market by now.

NEWARK, Ohio — The Thomas J. Evans Foundation announced plans yesterday for a block-long permanent farmers market that will be the centerpiece of the Canal Market Plaza, a revamped three-block area south of Newark’s Courthouse Square. The market will be located along a 50-foot-wide strip between Market and Canal streets that formerly was the site of a three-story red-brick warehouse torn down in 2006. Not coincidentally, it once housed a farmers market.